Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aKGZkktzkAlA" target="_blank">http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/...kktzkAlA</a> >>Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said he doesn’t “begrudge” the $17 million bonus awarded to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon or the $9 million issued to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd Blankfein, noting that some athletes take home more pay. The president, speaking in an interview, said in response to a question that while $17 million is “an extraordinary amount of money” for Main Street, “there are some baseball players who are making more than that and don’t get to the World Series either, so I’m shocked by that as well.” “I know both those guys; they are very savvy businessmen,” Obama said in the interview yesterday in the Oval Office with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which will appear on newsstands Friday. “I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free- market system.” << WOW, "The Free Market System", guess he is learning and not 100% against the reason why America is great... Capitialism... Or maybe he is just afraid to piss off the NBA players.... Now, if he would just lay off of Las Vegas
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Last I checked, President Obama's favorite sport is Basketball.... <a href="http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm" target="_blank">http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm</a> The top 10 NBA Players make more than $17 Million a year. (and that is PRIOR to endorsements, a few of them make MORE in Endorsement money than in Salary). Heck, I am a Football fan, and that is the reason that LaDainian Tomlinson is claiming for leaving the San Diego Chargers, he can' make enough "secondary" revenue in San Diego as compared to other cities.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Oh, and if you are interested, here are the top MLB (aka Baseball) salaries... <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/salaries/top50" target="_blank">http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/s...es/top50</a>
Originally Posted By mawnck >>guess he is learning and not 100% against the reason why America is great<< Or maybe he knew it all along and the echo chamber has been inventing a bunch of crazy crap to get their base all hot and bothered?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>guess he is learning and not 100% against the reason why America is great<< He never was against capitalism, but that fact may surprise you if you listen only to far right talking points. Since Obama's position on just about everything has been so distorted by the tea baggers and the right, expect to say "Wow!" a lot as you (slowly) discover he's never been the extremist he's been portrayed to be by the nutjobs on the right.
Originally Posted By mawnck Looks like both sides of the media are going to be screaming about this being a flip-flop on Pres. O's part. Of course, it's actually an out-of-context quote: >>Q Let's talk bonuses for a minute: Lloyd Blankfein, $9 million; Jamie Dimon, $17 million. Now, granted, those were in stock and less than what some had expected. But are those numbers okay? THE PRESIDENT: Well, look, first of all, I know both those guys. They're very savvy businessmen. And I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people success or wealth. That's part of the free market system. I do think that the compensation packages that we've seen over the last decade at least have not matched up always to performance. I think that shareholders oftentimes have not had any significant say in the pay structures for CEOs. Q Seventeen million dollars is a lot for Main Street to stomach. THE PRESIDENT: Listen, $17 million is an extraordinary amount of money. Of course, there are some baseball players who are making more than that who don't get to the World Series either. So I'm shocked by that as well. I guess the main principle we want to promote is a simple principle of "say on pay," that shareholders have a chance to actually scrutinize what CEOs are getting paid. And I think that serves as a restraint and helps align performance with pay. The other thing we do think is the more that pay comes in the form of stock that requires proven performance over a certain period of time as opposed to quarterly earnings is a fairer way of measuring CEOs' success and ultimately will make the performance of American businesses better.<< <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-johnson/obama-still-doesnt-get-it_b_456408.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...408.html</a> (this article = a case in point)
Originally Posted By DAR <<Last I checked, President Obama's favorite sport is Basketball....>> Right but the article said baseball players and World Series.
Originally Posted By Mr X I find it telling that Dark implies that what makes America "great" is the fact that it's a good place to live if you're filthy rich, and everyone just sort of agrees with him. How is that so great for the poverty stricken families living in the slums? How is that so great for all the workers who've lost their jobs due to outsourcing (a very capitalist thing to do by the way...it would take some socialist government regulation to put a stop to it!). How is that so great for all the bankrupt-due-to-medical families (number one in the world! Yay, America!)? I can think of a lot of things that make America great, but the current, VERY blatant system of crony capitalism at the expense of the middle-class and the poor is NOT one of them.
